Miru

Fragments written for my daughter Miru, born January 2013. Observations about her life, her learning, her loveliness. I share stories about how she grows up as a bilingual child dividing her time between different continents. There are also reflections about parenthood, as well as letters that I write to her.

Miru also has her own website at miru.creativechoice.org

The writing is on the wall
An almost three-year old girl draws on everything. Miru takes her color pencils and makes her mark on the vocabulary cards that her mother has prepared for her early childhood education. Her third birthday is less than a month away and we think it's great when she learns a lot now, while her need to ...
At the Zoo
About a month ago, I took Miru to the Tierpark Berlin. When we entered the large park, she had no expectation and did what she does best: smiling at the guys who checked our tickets and nagging for a candy she sees in the hand of an other child. I, on the other hand, had ...
Bird watching with Miru
Miru and I found ourselves on the church square in the village of Vimeiro in the Alentejo region of Portugal. A father and his daughter. In the portico in front of a church, where we sat down because of the shade we looked up and there were swallow nests between the naves of the dome. Miru ...
How the brain of the one percent works
Miru is sharing only an infinitesimally small piece of her chocolate cookie. I ask her if she would share with papa and she nods. Then she touches her cookie with her little thumb and index finger, and puts the crumble that sticks on her fingers to my lips. Her dexterity is excellent and her composure ...
An imaginary piece of her candy
It is getting sweeter. Unbearably sweet. I go to the park with Miru to let her play on the swing and drink water from the fountain while I lie in the grass with an electronic book. There are always many children there to play with her. There is no lack here. This should be anyone's ...
Hide and Seek
A game that Miru likes is our own version of hide-and-seek. I carry her on my back and pretend to be looking for her. Calling her softly then louder, bending over and looking around corners, in portico's and behind trees. I continue and wonder what she would think. Does she realize it is a game? ...
Miraculous Miru
The book "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn (and the movie with Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike) is a character study of a girl, Amy, who had been spoiled to such an extent that she developed a very specific psychopathology. Amy was the only child of a couple that derived a dangerously large proportion of their ...
She holds the spoon
Today, I took Miru out for a walk through the park and the few blocks I wanted to discover today. She strolled casually next to me on the sidewalk (and less casually when we went downhill). The part of Lisbon we explored is made for cars, and so I had the opportunity to teach her ...
Learning from Miru
What do you do when your two year old daughter points at your plate of spaghetti and says "papa" when you come into the kitchen? I was late for dinner the other day, due to trivial computer work that ate up my hours, and I hadn't eaten enough. Miru knows this exactly, and readily takes ...